Markell turns to legislature to get hospital built

By Randall Chase, Associated Press 8:10pm, April 25, 2013

Gov. Jack Markell is turning to the legislature after being thwarted by Delaware's Supreme Court in his effort to get a rehabilitation hospital built in Middletown.

The court last year ruled in favor of a Middletown nursing home operator that challenged a state board's approval of HealthSouth's application to build a similar facility in Middletown.

Approval of HealthSouth's facility followed accusations of political meddling by Markell, who pushed for the project even though a review committee of the state Health Resources Board opposed it. The project was approved only after Markell replaced two members of the review committee and several other board members, including the chairman, resigned in protest.

Markell is now supporting a bill introduced by Democratic lawmakers Wednesday allowing freestanding rehabilitation hospitals to be built without state review.